Civil Air Patrol searches for missing plane in NE Minn. during training

During a training exercise on Saturday, the Civil Air Patrol didn't find any new evidence of a missing plane that disappeared on June 8, the Duluth News Tribune reports. “If you’re training in an area, why not look for something that has not been found yet?” Capt. George Supan, public information officer for the Civil Air Patrol’s Minnesota Wing, told the newspaper. Crews hope the lack of foliage this time of year could help spot something missed in June.

During a training exercise on Saturday, the Civil Air Patrol didn't find any new evidence of a missing plane that disappeared on June 8, the Duluth News Tribune reports. “If you’re training in an area, why not look for something that has not been found yet?” Capt. George Supan, public information officer for the Civil Air Patrol’s Minnesota Wing, told the newspaper. Crews hope the lack of foliage this time of year could help spot something missed in June.

Volunteers from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois spent nearly two weeks looking for 67-year-old Lakeville pilot Mike Bratlie this spring before the search was called off. Bratlie was bound for Duluth from South St. Paul when he made his last radar contact in the Silver Bay area.

Civil Air Patrol crews conducting a training exercise on eight planes in the Northland over the weekend saw no evidence of a plane and pilot that went missing June 8 on the way from South St. Paul to Duluth, the Duluth News Tribune reports.

The search for the Lakeville pilot and plane that went missing two weeks ago over northeastern Minnesota has been called off by the Air Force and Civil Air Patrol. Mike Bratlie left a South St. Paul airport on June 8 in his Piper PA-31 Navajo bound for Duluth, and made his last radar contract in the Silver Bay area.

The search resumed Tuesday for a Lakeville pilot and his plane, missing since Friday. The Civil Air Patrol continue to scour the area north of Duluth for Michael Arthur Bratlie, 67, and his white twin-engine Piper PA31 Navaho. Six aircraft and two ground teams are involved in the search Tuesday.

The Civil Air Patrol says the twin-engine Piper with one person on board was reported to be on a flight from Fleming Field in South St. Paul to the Duluth airport and back to St. Paul on Friday. The search Sunday is centered north of Duluth.

The Civil Air Patrol and more than 60 volunteers continue to actively search for a pilot who has been missing for 10-days. Mike Bratlie, 67, left South St. Paul on June 8 bound for northeastern Minnesota. The Duluth News Tribune reports the search effort has been a challenge because of heavily wooded terrain.

The Civil Air Patrol says a twin-engine Piper PA-31, with one person on board, vanished Friday flying from South St. Paul to the Duluth airport. The News Tribune reports eight Civil Air Patrol airplanes and six ground teams are involved in the search for 67-year-old Michael Bratlie.

Duluth-based Cirrus Aircraft says the French Air Force and Navy are buying nearly two-dozen single-engine prop planes, the News Tribune reports. The aircraft will be used to teach French military pilots the basic skills needed for flying military planes.

A request for federal individual assistance for Northeastern Minnesota has been denied. W. Craig Engate, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told Gov. Mark Dayton in a letter that damage to dwellings from the flooding that began June 19 “was not of such severity and magnitude as to warrant the implementation of individual assistance.” The state has 30 days to appeal the decision. Gov. Mark Dayton "is very disappointed."